Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Canisius University Athletics

#Griffs The Official Home of the Canisius University Golden Griffins | #Griffs
Canisius forward Stefano Bottini is shown in game action at Niagara on Jan. 20, 2024
Lindy Feider
4
Canisius CAN 8-14-3, 7-7-3
6
Winner Niagara NIA 10-13-1, 8-7-1
Canisius CAN
8-14-3, 7-7-3
4
Final
6
Niagara NIA
10-13-1, 8-7-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Canisius CAN 2 2 0 4
Niagara NIA 2 3 1 6

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Defeated by Niagara in Series Finale

Connor Mylymok tallied two goals to lead Niagara in a 6-4 victory over Canisius in Atlantic Hockey Association action Saturday at Dwyer Arena in Lewiston, N.Y.
 
Cole Michel, Tyler Wallace, Johnny Wiscoe and Ethan Lund also found the back of the net for the Purple Eagles (10-13-1, 8-7-1 AHA), who completed a sweep of the home-and-home series between the Battle of the Bridge rivals with Saturday's victory.
 
Freshman Trey Funk, sophomore Stefano Bottini and seniors Randy Hernandez and Cooper Haar accounted for the four goals for the Golden Griffins (8-14-3, 7-7-3 AHA).
 
Funk opened the scoring a little more than three minutes into the first period, putting fellow freshman Jackson Nieuwendyk's feed past the blocker of Niagara goaltender Jarrett Fiske from close range for his second goal of the season. Niagara responded with a pair of tallies less than two minutes apart to grab a 2-1 lead. Mylymok got the Purple Eagles on the board with 4:40 elapsed in the first, putting home a loose puck during a Niagara rush after the initial attempt by Noah Hackett was blocked by a Canisius defender.
 
Mickel gave Niagara its first lead of the contest just 1:46 after Mylymok's tally when fired a wrist shot past a diving Ethan Robertson from the right face-off circle.
 
Bottini brought the Griffs level with 21 seconds to play in the first, jamming home a rebound after Hernandez's initial attempt on the rush was turned aside by Fiske. Niagara took control of the contest during the early stages of the second period, scoring three goals in a 4:03 span to break the 2-2 deadlock and build a 5-2 cushion.
 
Wallace began the sequence just 1:26 into the second when he converted on a 2-on-1 break for his seventh of the season. Wescoe made it a 4-2 game seconds before the five-minute mark with a power-play tally before Lund capped the Purple Eagles outburst with 5:29 played in the middle frame when his point shot found its way through traffic and into the Canisius goal.
 
Canisius responded in the later stages of the second, scoring twice in a 46-second span to make it a one-goal game.
 
Hernandez netted his sixth goal of the season while Canisius was on the power play, burying a wrist shot over the glove of Fiske at the 15:06 mark to trim the deficit to 5-3. Haar made it a one-goal game on the next shift when his wrap around attempt deflected off a Niagara defender and into the Purple Eagle goal to pull Canisius within one, 5-4. Canisius pushed for the equalizer in the third, but were unable to get it before Mylymok closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal in the final minute of regulation to determine the two-goal margin of victory.
 
Robertson made 31 saves in goal for Canisius while Fiske recorded 15 saves before leaving the game in the third period. Mitchell Day replaced Fiske and turned aside all five shots he faced to preserve the Purple Eagle lead.
 
POSTGAME COMMENTS GAME NOTES
• Niagara outshot Canisius by a 37-24 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 21-11 edge in the first period.
• Niagara was 1-for-2 on the power play on Saturday while Canisius was 1-for-4 with the man advantage.
 • Canisius scored four or more goals in a game for the sixth time this season as it moved to 5-1-0 in 2023-24 when that occurs.
• Hernandez tallied multiple points in a game for the second time this week as he finished Saturday's contest with a goal and an assist.
• Hernandez's power-play tally in the second period was his third man-advantage goal of the season, moving into the team lead in that category.
• Haar scored his first goal in nearly three years with his second-period tally as he found the back of the net for the first time since Feb. 19, 2021 versus Mercyhurst.
• Bottini recorded his first goal of the season with his even-strength goal in the final minute of the first period on Saturday.
• Robertson recorded 30-or-more saves in a game for the third time this season as he finished Saturday's contest with 31 stops.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius heads west to take on Air Force in a pair of Atlantic Hockey Association contests Jan. 26-27 at the Cadet Ice Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo.
 
Game one of the series is slated for a 9 p.m. EST puck drop while the finale will begin at 7 p.m. EST.
 
Like Canisius Athletics and Griffs Hockey on Facebook
Follow @GoGriffs and @Griffshockey on X (formally known as Twitter)
Follow @GoGriffs and @Griffshockey on Instagram
 
Print Friendly Version